Events, News

European Youth Chess Championship 2018, which took place in Riga, Latvia, with participation of almost 1100 players from 46 European federations, concluded yesterday on the Closing Ceremony of the event which was held after the Press Conference.

After nine rounds and harsh struggles for the top, twelve players were crowned as European Youth Chess Champions of the respective category. The Minister of Finance of Latvia, Women Grandmaster, Mrs. Dana Reizniece-Ozola, greeted all the players, congratulated them on the huge success and officially closed the event. The Closing Ceremony was also attended by: The Deputy Mayor of the Riga Council, Mr. Andris Ameriks and the ECU representative Mr. Adrian Mikhalchishin. They also took part in the prize giving ceremony.

In category Open U8, the first place came to Azadaliyev Jahandar (AZE, 1732), who finished alone on the top of the list with score of 8 points. Gordeev Denis (RUS, 1333) took silver medal with 7.5 points, while Golovchenko Bogdan (RUS, 1560) and Yonal Timur (RUS, 1446) tied for the bronze, each with 7 points. According to the tiebreak criteria, Golovchenko Bogdan took the medal and Yonal Timur was 4th.

Zubkovskaya Ekaterina (BLR, 1371) was the sole Winner of the category for Girls U8, with score of 7.5 points. Preobrazhenskaya Diana (RUS, 1294) was second with 7 points and 4 players tied for the 3rd place, each with 6.5 points, but according to the tiebreaks, Iudina Veronika (RUS, 1194) took the medal, Mgeladze Kesaria (GEO, 1243) was 4th, Trunz Tamila (GER) was 5th and Laidamik Kinga (POL, 1072) was 6th on the list.

Tiebreak system had to determine the Winner of Open U10 category where Pingin Artem (RUS, 2040), Kuhn Clement (FRA, 2023) and Bialiauski Artsiom (BLR, 1633) tied for the first place, each with 7.5 points. Eventually, Pingin Artem took gold with the best tiebreaks, Kuhn Clement was second and Bialiauski Artsiom came third.

In section for Girls U10, Russian players conquered the top. Shvedova Alexandra (RUS, 1758) was the sole Winner with 8 points, Shukhman Anna (RUS, 1577) won the silver medal and Zhapova Yana (RUS, 1733) and Svergina Sofya (RUS, 1657) tied for the bronze, but Zhapova Yana finished the event on the 3rd place and bronze medal thanks to the better tiebreaks.

No huge surprises happened in the section Open U12, where the top seeder and the world best rated player for his age, Murzin Volodar (RUS, 2306) maintained the leadership and won the Championship with 8 points. Five players tied for the second place, each with 7 points, and according to the tiebreaks, Makoveev Ilva (RUS, 2249) took silver medal, Mitusov Semen (UKR, 2140) took bronze medal, Razafindratsima Timothe (FRA, 1978) was 4th, Droin Augustin (FRA, 2077) was 5th and Rozen Eytan was 6th on the standing list.

Nine rounds weren’t enough to determine the Winner of Girls U12 category, but the determination came to tiebreaks since 4 players tied for the first place, each with score of 7 points. Karmanova Olga Dm (RUS, 1730) became the winner with the best tiebreaks, Bashylina Luisa (GER, 1817) came second, Tarasenka Aliaksandra (BLR, 1747) was third and Anacoglu Cisel (TUR, 1734) ended 4th.

Pogosyan Stefan (RUS, 2331) was the sole Winner of the category Open U14 with score of 8 points. Tsoi Dimitry (RUS, 2393) took silver medal with 7.5 points, while 8 players tied for the bronze, each with 6.5 points, but according to the tiebreaks criteria, IM Bjerre Jonas Buhl (DEN, 2423) ended the event as third on the list.

In category Open U16, top seeded Sonis Francesco (ITA, 2468) maintained the leadership and became the sole Winner of the event with 7.5 points. Four players reached the score of 7 points to tie for the second place, but Remizov Yaroslav (RUS, 2317) had the best tiebreaks and took silver medal, Zarubitski Viachaslau (BLR, 2416) took bronze, Blohberger Felix (AUT, 2427) finished 4th and Barseqhyan Armen Ar. (ARM, 2251) ended 5th.

After a lot of surprises and upsets in category Girls U16, Bulatova Kamaliya (RUS, 2043) became the sole Winner with score of 7.5 points. Seven players tied for the silver and bronze medal, each with 6.5 points, but Badelka Olga (BLR, 2416) ended second on the list with the best tiebreaks, while Antova Gabriela (ECU, 2293) ended third.

Ioannidis Evgenios (GRE, 2343) was convincing in Category U18, although he was competing as the younger in the group. He won the event with 7.5 points, a full point ahead of the runner-ups. 5 players tied for the second place, each with 6.5 points, and Vykouk Jan (CZE, 2413) took silver, while Erenberg Ariel (ISR, 2399) took bronze medal thanks to the tiebreak criteria.

Dimitrova Aleksandra (RUS, 2166) became the sole Winner of the category Girls U18, with score of 8 points. Kiolbasa Oliwia (POL, 2213) and Kalaiyalahan Akshaya (ENG, 2138) tied for the second place, each with 7 points, but according to tiebreaks, Kiolbasa Oliwia was second and Kalaiyalahan Akshaya came third.

The conclusion of the European Youth Chess Championship brought 7 gold medals to Russia, and in total 16 medals, 2 gold medals to Azerbaijan and in total 3 medals, 1 gold medal went to Belarus, and in total 5 medals, Italy got one gold medal, and Greece received the Champion of the European Youth Championship. One medal also went to France, Ukraine, Germany, Denmark, Czech Republic, Israel, Poland and England.

The event was marked by the excellent playing venue, and live transmission of the top boards of each category which was broadcasted together with live commentary made by WIM Anna Kantane and GM Toms Kantans.

The event was played in 9 rounds by Swiss system in accordance with the ECU Tournament Rules and FIDE Rules of Chess. The time control was 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one.